It has been recognized that drivers sometime suffer injuries in automobile accidents that can not necessarily be explained as having been directly caused by accident impacts. It has instead been appreciated that these injuries can be associated with certain actions of the foot pedals during a crash. With respect to a brake pedal, an operating device may be included, for example a brake servo unit, that is fixed to the outside of an intermediate wall between the cab and the engine compartment. The servo unit has a push rod which extends through the intermediate wall. The pedal arm is usually pivotally journaled at its upper end and acts on a push rod for affecting braking at a point located on the arm below the journal. In a collision in which the intermediate wall is pressed into the cab, the servo unit, together with its push rod, will pivot the pedal arm upwards, often resulting in major injury to the feet and shins.
In order to avoid the pedal arm being pivoted upwards in this manner if the servo unit is displaced in towards the cab, it is previously known, as for example in Swedish Patent Application No. SE 9800420, to journal the pedal arm at a point remote from its upper end and to pivotally join the upper end of the pedal arm to one end of a motion-transmitting rod. The other end of the pedal arm is pivotally joined to one end of a pivotally mounted lever which, when pivoted, actuates the push rod of the servo unit. In a collision that causes the servo unit to be pressed in towards the cab, the pedal arm is pivoted down towards the cab floor. Even though this design can reduce the risk of injury to the shins of the driver, it can cause other serious injury if the driver's foot happens to be directly under the pedal at the moment of collision and is clamped between the pedal and the cab floor. This is especially serious if the driver should be held fast so that he or she cannot rapidly leave the vehicle in such event as an ensuing fire following the accident.